Steven Hudak (04MD), FACS, a reconstructive urologist who serves as the urology residency program director at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas, often tells trainees that when he started medical school, he had almost no familiarity with urology, much less reconstructive urology.

Wanakee Carr (14MD) grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. From a young age, her parents taught her to see her education as a means by which she could be a support to her community. Carr now fulfills that role practicing obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) in Des Moines—work that she didn’t expect would become her calling when she first started medical school.

Mgbechi Erondu, MD, MFA, serves as a clinical assistant professor in Stanford Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine. A pediatric palliative care specialist, Erondu simultaneously completed a Master of Fine Arts at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop during her medical training at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. We caught up with her to reflect on her career as a physician-writer.